


oh what a night

by wall_flower1



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Lu ten is alive and mentioned, Modern AU, Other, PRE ZUKKA, Sokka is kinda a little shit, Zuko is sad boi, Zuko tells sokka how he got his scar, established sutara, i hope it is okay, iroh is good uncle, pre zukka friendship, sleepover, the f slur is said once, this is my third time writing this, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27008416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wall_flower1/pseuds/wall_flower1
Summary: Zuko gets invited to a sleepover with the Gaang, and it gets awkward.
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), suki/katara - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 104





	oh what a night

**Author's Note:**

> Tw: some cussing, and the f slur is said once
> 
> So, this is my third time trying to write this, and I liked in so yeah, I ope you like it as well.
> 
> And I would like to mention my lovely beta reader/editor who is @rynliadon on Tumblr : )

Zuko was starting to wonder why in the world he ever agreed to go to Aang’s for a sleepover with the people that hated him. He honestly couldn’t fathom what had motivated Aang to ask him in the first place. He’d been a complete and total dick to them for years, and he felt awful about it. But even his efforts to make it up to them had limits, and sleeping overnight in a room full of people who had a vested interest in humiliating him was one of them. Aang, however, had this magical way with words and an irresistible _please-I’ll-be-your-best-friend-forever_ face he employed to get anyone to agree to whatever he asked, so how could Zuko say no?

He was sitting in his uncle’s car, watching the trees pass them by as they drove to Aang’s. He grew more anxious with every tree that passed. His uncle seemed to notice the tension creeping up on Zuko’s shoulders, so he turned down the radio and glanced at him in the mirror.

“You shouldn’t worry too much, I bet it will be fun.” Iroh offered him a reassuring smile.

Zuko just leaned back more into his seat. “Sure, I’ll have _so much fun_ with the people who hate my guts.” His words were dripping with sarcasm.

Iroh sighed. “I’m sure they don’t hate you, Zuko.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “They do, and they have good reason to! I’ve been a di-” Zuko saw his uncle giving him a stern look, “um, jerk to them for years.” 

“Well, if they hate you so much, why would you be invited to their sleepover?” Iroh asked curiously.

Zuko sighed. “I don’t know. Aang just wants to be friends with everyone, I guess. It’s not like they’re desperate to spend time with me.” Iroh looked like he wanted to protest Zuko’s words, but simply nodded, resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t convince Zuko otherwise. They both sat in relative silence for the next few minutes before they reached Aang’s house. Zuko could feel a horrible nervousness build up inside of him as he looked over the house. “I don’t think I can do this,” he said, shaking his hands back forth to try and calm his nerves (to no avail). “Can we just go home?” 

Iroh sighed before turning to look Zuko in the eye. “No, Zuko. You are perfectly capable of doing this. Besides, you need friends besides your cousin.”

“But what if they don’t actually want to be my friend?” he responded. “What if most of them don’t even want me here, and I just make everything awkward and awful?” His panic rose with every word.

Iroh placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about that, Zuko. It’s all going to be fine. Trust me. Just remember that you can call or text me whenever you need to if you really want to leave.”

Zuko nodded, feeling somewhat better. He resigned himself to the fact that there was no way his uncle would let him out of this. “Okay.” He unbuckled his seat belt and picked up his bag. He moved to open the door. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Iroh nodded and smiled. “Would you like me to walk you to the door?”

Zuko glared at him. “No.” He then got out of the car and waved goodbye. He looked up at the house in front of him and took a few deep breaths. The door felt ten feet tall, looming over him threateningly. He walked up to the door and hesitantly knocked. He was soon met with an excited looking Aang. 

“Hey, you made it!” he said, smiling at him. “For a minute there I didn’t think you were going to come!”

Zuko nodded. “Yeah, uh, there was some traffic.” He stood there a little awkwardly. _What do I do with my hands?_

Aang stood out of the way of the door. “Well, come on in.” His smile never wavered. 

Zuko barely took one step over the threshold before a giant shaggy dog jumped up at him. From where he was on the ground, he could see Suki giggling and whispering what happened in Toph’s ear, who immediately burst into laughter. Aang was trying very hard to get the dog off of Zuko.

Once Zuko was free from the dog, Aang started to apologize. “I’m so sorry about Appa, he loves new people. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Zuko shook his head, a little bewildered at the genuine concern in Aang’s voice. “It’s fine, I’m fine.” Aang smiled (again) upon hearing that and started to walk over towards where Suki and Toph were sitting. Zuko followed awkwardly behind him and took a seat on the floor near the couch. 

Suki grinned at him in greeting. “Don’t worry about it, Appa wipes everyone out their first night here. It’s practically a rite of passage.”

Zuko laughed a little nervously in response. “I’ve never been around dogs before, I’m honestly just glad I survived.”

Zuko figured out a while ago that Suki was the only one (besides maybe Aang) that didn’t hate him. He never gave her any reason to. While he was mostly mean to Aang and Sokka, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t rude to the others. He had said many hateful things to all of them (god, why were any of them tolerating his presence? he wondered idly), but it seemed that neither Aang nor Suki took them to heart. 

Katara and Sokka, on the other hand? They weren't as understanding or forgiving. It took Katara a long time to not immediately threaten him with violence anytime he passed by her friends. Now she just glared at him, so, progress! Sokka was still not very nice to him either. Zuko couldn’t blame him though. He’d never expected any of them to actually talk to them after he’d apologized and run away a few weeks ago. If not for Suki starting the first friendly conversation between any of them in English class, he probably wouldn’t be here right now.

Zuko was pulled out of his thoughts as Aang said. “Hey look! Katara and Sokka are here!” He had a huge grin on his face as he got up to let them in. The anxious feeling in Zuko's stomach came back in full force. Apparently, the brief terror had flashed over his face as well, because Suki shot him a comforting smile before getting up to greet them. 

Katara was the first to enter the room. She only spared a patented Katara Death Glare™ for Zuko but ran over to Suki with a huge smile. Suki pulled her onto her lap and kissed her cheek. Katara’s eyes sparkled a little in the way they only did when she was around Suki. Suki whispered something in her ear that Zuko couldn’t quite make out, and Katara grumbled a little before Suki gave her a stern look.

Katara turned to Zuko again with a more neutral expression on her face. “Hi Zuko, we didn't think you’d make it, but we are so happy that you are here,” she said, only a little bit deadpan. She had on one of those smiles that would look real to some people, but not to Zuko. He had seen that type of smile too many times to not know it was fake. 

Zuko looked down. “Hello, Katara,” he mumbled, but it was loud enough that she heard it.

Toph scoffed and poured a little. “What, no greeting for me?”

Katara laughed a little. “Hi, Toph.”

Toph scoffed again. “Yeah, whatever, sugar queen. Hey, where’s Sokka?”

“Oh, he’s putting our stuff upstairs with Aang. He’ll be down in a moment.” Toph nodded. Suki was already starting to play with Katara’s hair, finger-combing the braid out to rebraid and flicking Katara’s signature hair loopies. She was fishtailing it, which Zuko only realized because of how often he had to braid Azula’s hair as a child. (Their father would never, and their mother stopped braiding Azula’s hair a long time ago. Stopped doing much of anything, actually.)

Zuko could hear Sokka and Aang approaching by how loud they were talking, and he was somehow getting even more anxious. Sokka was about the only person who was vocal about his disdain for Zuko. Katara hated him silently, and the other three didn’t hate him at all (or at least, they didn’t seem to; he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop). Zuko had always been the most awful to Sokka.

As soon as Sokka stepped foot in the room that they were occupying, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Zuko. “What is _he_ doing here?” he spat. 

Aang got in front of Sokka, placing his hands on his shoulders somewhat placatingly. “I invited him,” he said carefully.

Sokka rolled his eyes. “But why? He’s a dick and you know it.” Zuko looked down at the ground, and the other three in the room were starting to get uncomfortable. 

Aang looked around at the others for help, but none of them said anything. “Well, I just thought that maybe we could get to know him, and maybe be friends?” He said the last part hopefully.

Sokka let out a humorless laugh. “Friends, with _him_ , I don’t think so. Just because you have a compulsive need to be friends with everyone—”

“Sokka, just sit down,” Katara interrupted, glaring at him. He obliged but made sure to be as far away from Zuko as possible. Zuko continued to look down, not wanting to look up for fear that he’d make eye contact with someone.

Aang looked around, waiting for someone to say something. “So, uh, what do you guys want to do?”

Sokka rolled his eyes again. “You really didn’t plan anything, did you?”

Aang shook his head. “I didn’t want to plan something that Zuko might not like.” Zuko felt a little embarrassed, heat rising to his face. He didn’t want to be the reason that this night wouldn’t work out. 

Sokka scoffed a little and muttered something under his breath. Zuko didn’t catch what he said, but Katara clearly did as she moved to slap the back of his head.

“Ow, what was that for!?” Sokka was glaring at Katara and rubbing the back of his head. 

“That was a mean thing to say, and you shouldn't have said it.”

“Well, he probably didn’t hear me, and we were all thinking it,” Sokka muttered under his breath, just loud enough that Zuko could hear him. At this point, he knew who Sokka was talking about. Katara just glared at Sokka, likely on the verge of hitting him again.

“Well, that doesn't mean you should say it!” She was practically shouting at this point, and Sokka seemed like he was fuming at the ears.

“Why do you care what I say about him? You hate him just as much as I do!” Sokka was shouting as well. Zuko wanted to disappear, he hated all the yelling, and since they were talking about him it made it all worse. He burrowed even further into himself, wrapping his arms around his head and closing his eyes, wishing it could be over.

“Well, at least I’m _trying_ to like him, you can’t go five seconds without some stupid remark. You are a total and complete ass.”

Suki was the one brave enough to intervene. “Will both of you just shut up! You’re acting like Zuko isn’t right fucking there!” She stared both of them down. “Can you at least try for some maturity?” Suki was scary when she was angry, Zuko decided when he dared to look up. He looked right back down when he noticed how many eyes were on him. He hated to be looked at, especially with his scar.

Sokka just grumbled and looked away from everyone, and Katara whispered “I’m sorry, Suki,” before going back to letting Suki play with her hair.

Aang clapped his hands together. “Alright, that was a, uh, lively start to the Gaang super sleepover night of awesome. Why don’t we play a game of truth or dare?”

Toph nodded. “Sure, I’ll play.” The rest of them showed their own agreement. 

“Okay, so who wants to go first?” Aang continued. Katara raised her hand. “Alright, Katara it, and then we’ll go around the room.” Everyone nodded.

Katara looked around, trying to decide who would be her first victim before her eyes landed on Sokka. “Sokka, truth, or dare.” She had a devilish grin on her face.

Sokka puffed out his chest before saying, “Dare.” 

Katara’s grin only got wider. “I dare you to lick Appa’s feet.”

Sokka’s eyes widened. “You want me to _what_!? No, no way am I doing that! He walks onto his own shit every day!”

Toph laughed. “What, are you chicken, Snoozles? I knew you were too much of a baby to do anything.”

Sokka glared at her. “Fine, I’ll do it. Aang, can you call Appa in here?” Aang did so, and the dog was right in front of him. “Okay, guess I’ll just lick his foot…” He grabbed the foot and licked it. “Ewwww, dog hair,” he said. “I hate you with the fury of a thousand suns right now.” Everyone else was just laughing hysterically, even Zuko. Katara just had a satisfied grin on her face.

The game hadn’t gone on for long before it got boring. 

Suki soon spoke up. “I’m bored, why don’t we play 7 minutes in heaven?”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “You too are already dating, that’s cheating! Besides, it’s no fun playing with a small number of people.”

Suki glared at him. “You know the game isn’t just about kissing. You just have to be locked with another person in a room. It’ll be fun, trust me.” She shared a knowing look with Katara, and Zuko did not trust them at all.

Sokka sighed. “Alright, let’s play. What are the rules for this game again?”

“Well, we all put our names down and put it in a hat. Someone draws out two names, and those two have to be locked in a closet for 7 minutes.” Suki grabbed Sokka’s beanie right off his head, which prompted a “hey!” form Sokka and a giggle from Katara. “So, do you all want to play?” They all nodded, and Suki got up. “Alright, I’ll go get paper. Aang, it’s still in the same place, right?”

“Yep, pens too.”

Suki nodded and went off to get the things she needed. Zuko glanced over at Sokka, wondering if anything had changed since they had both blown up at him, but he was pointedly avoiding looking at Zuko. Which… stung, but it wasn’t anything he didn’t deserve.

Suki soon came back and wrote everyone’s name down. “So, who would like to draw?” Katara’s hand shot straight up. “Teacher’s pet,” Suki said, grinning as she passed Katara the beanie.

Katara drew two cards and smiled at Suki. “Zuko and Sokka.” Sokka groaned and Zuko was mortified. Out of everyone here, why did it have to be Sokka? Even Katara seemed a little less scary now.

“You guys totally rigged this,” Sokka said, pointing accusatory fingers at Katara and Suki, who only smiled innocently.

“Who, me?” Katara said sweetly. 

Aang got up. “Alright, I’ll show you two to the room.” Zuko and Sokka both got up and followed him, Zuko trying as hard as he possibly could to fold into himself like a paper airplane.

They could hear Toph shout, “Good luck you two, and don’t bite each other's heads off!” with a snort. Zuko could hear Sokka muttering a ‘whatever’ under his breath. 

“Alrighty, you guys can go ahead and go in there. Sokka, just text me in case of an emergency and you really really need to get out, okay?” 

“Sick, can I text you right now?” Sokka said. Zuko only looked down at the floor again.

“I heard that, Sokka!” Katara shouted from the other room.

Aang shot an uncharacteristic glare at Sokka. “Okay, see you guys in 7 minutes.”

Sokka sighed a little and sat on the floor. Zuko stood awkwardly and looked around. The room was small, and there was a desk at one end of the room. It seems to be some sort of makeshift office. It was nice though. Zuko could see a few framed photos of Aang as a kid, and an older man (whom Zuko assumed was his guardian). They seemed happy, and it hurt his heart a little.

“What are you staring at?” Sokka’s voice made him remember that he was in a room with him.

Zuko looked away from the pictures and back at the floor. “N-, uh, nothing.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Has it been seven minutes yet?” Zuko shook his head, and he groaned. “Well, we might as well pass the time. So, tell me about yourself.”

Zuko gave him a confused look. “What do you mean? And why.”

Sokka sighed a little. “I meant that everyone wants me to ‘get to know you—’” he added air quotes— “and try to not hate you I guess, but whatever. So I guess let me be a little more specific. Why are you always an asshole?”

Zuko looked over at him. “I don’t know how to answer that question.”

Sokka got up and looked at him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you mean to tell me that you’ve just been a dick for no reason!?” He started to get pretty loud, and it was making Zuko nervous.

“N-no, I guess not.” Zuko didn’t mean to stutter, it just happened.

“So what is it then!? Are you just gonna forget all about it and play that sad boy act of yours!? There has to be a fucking reason!” Sokka was moving his arms around angrily. “You have it all, you know? You have the giant mansion, you have the money, you have the fucking inheritance or whatever, you have everything!” He shot daggers at Zuko with his eyes, challenging him. “You’re just an arrogant rich asshole who decided to pick on people for fun.”

At that, Zuko finally snapped. All the tension and anxiety that had been building up inside him for hours came to a head and just exploded. “That’s not true! _You’re_ the one who has it all!” He stood, jabbing a finger in Sokka’s direction. “ _You_ have a loving sister who doesn't threaten to kill you in your sleep! You have a dad who can tolerate you, who most likely didn’t have your mother murdered, and didn’t _permanently scar your fucking face_ just because you turned out to be a fag.” Somewhere in the middle, Zuko had started to cry. “You have friends! You have a life! You have everything I can’t.” He turned away from Sokka and collapsed on the ground, rocking back and forth. _Just keep breathing just keep breathing just keep breathing._ He was taking in slow shaky breaths, awaiting the inevitable outburst from Sokka.

Surprisingly, it never came. When Zuko dared to look up again, it was to find a stunned and horrified Sokka staring at him. “Your dad gave you your scar?” he whispered, horrified. “Just because you’re gay?”

Zuko shook his head. “Well, that wasn’t the main reason.”

“What could have possibly been the main reason?!” Sokka said, not quite yelling but pretty close. Zuko didn’t mean to, but the abrupt volume change made him flinch a little. Remorse crossed over Sokka’s face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been yelling like that.” Sokka sat down next to him.

Zuko just shook his head. “It’s fine.”

“It really wasn’t.”

Zuko looked at him, trying to figure out if Sokka was screwing with him or something, but he actually seemed sincere. Sokka took a deep breath, preparing himself. “If you’re okay with telling me, why would your father ever do that?” Disgust was laced throughout his voice, but shockingly, it wasn’t directed at Zuko for once.

Zuko drew his knees to his chest, trying to feel more secure. “I guess… the main reason was that I spoke out of turn at a really important meeting of his. He’d taken us into work that day to show us around, brought out the ‘one day this will all be yours’ speech at me and my sister. He had us observe a meeting he had with a potential foreign collaboration. I didn’t agree with some of the things that were said, and I uh… I spoke out. This cost the collaboration for my father. He was really mad about it. Also, that was the day that he found out I was gay, so he was also pissed about that. He wanted to have a perfect son, but instead, he got me.” Zuko gestured down at himself, laughing a bit even though it didn’t seem that funny. “He said something like ‘this is the last time you will be allowed to be disrespectful without punishment.’ All of the things that I had done to upset him got brought up again, and he was just so _mad_.” Zuko took a deep breath and continued. “He took me and my sister home and sent her to her room. He had taken his anger out on me before, but this time was different. He was… worse. One of the housekeepers was ironing, and…” Zuko sniffed, realizing he’d been crying for a while. Sokka grabbed a tissue from off of the desk and handed it to him. Zuko took it gratefully.

“How old were you?” Sokka whispered like he was afraid to ask.

Zuko clung to himself even tighter. “Thirteen.”

Sokka gasped a little. “There is no universe in which that will ever have been okay. Your dad is pure _evil_ .” Sokka reached out for a moment, but seemed to think better of it. “Can I hug you?” He looked unsure, like it was the wrong thing to ask, but seemed to be relieved when Zuko nodded. He tentatively wrapped his arms around Zuko, and let him cry into his chest. Sokka rubbed his back.

They sat there like that for a while, existing and breathing together, Sokka comforting Zuko until the tears had gone from a full-on flood to the occasional teardrop. It was the first time that Zuko had ever told someone the entire story out loud before, and while it felt raw and awful, he knew he’d feel better soon. Light at the end of the tunnel and whatnot. 

Sokka, rubbing his back still, said a few minutes later, “I think I forgive you.”


End file.
